Given the Chance
by Shainingu
Summary: After KH2, Sora and Riku return to high school life. Sora can't adjust too well, he sees things that shouldn't be there. Riku... He decides to use his looks for popularity, aka he becomes a playboy. Can Kairi help Sora? Sora/Kairi, Riku/All, Axel/Roxas
1. Oh

Sora stood in the hallway, his bag loosely hanging off his shoulder. His eyes scanned the room; it seemingly got smaller and smaller with each breath he took. How was he going to do this? Just last month he was on the Gummi Ship, returning from the final battle. Now his biggest issue: getting to class.

Kairi said she'd see him in homeroom, since she has it with him. But how the hell was he going to find 67-N, when the school had only _even _numbers. Sora sighed and urged on. Riku was already there, and had been for the last two weeks. He had grown restless within the first hours of being back. Riku needed something to do, and he beaten Tidus at least ten times the day after. Riku wanted to go.

Sora wanted nothing to do with it.

He walked down the blue and white hallway, each tile the opposite color. The lockers followed a similar pattern, one was blue, the other white. Sora hated his uniform, black pants and blazer; the shirt was a light blue. It was so _dull_. Why couldn't the kids design the uniform every four years? More students would definitely be in dress code, Sora thought.

Ten minutes later, Sora stood dumbfounded. He stood in the courtyard, which was smack dab in the middle of the high school. His hair looked almost blonde in morning light. Each spike on his head had a different core temperature. A drop of sweat collected next to his temple. "Where the hell is this stupid room?" He shouted.

No one heard. Of course not. No one cared about the new student here. They were just wallflowers. What now? Sora had no idea where he was going. Maybe the office would help. They didn't earlier though, when he first got his schedule. Kairi should have helped. But Sora _did _tell her that if he could handle Nobodies, finding a room would be a piece of cake.

So now what? No one to help, no one to guide him. Sora concluded that he'll apologize as soon as he saw Kairi again. Until then, he decided to wander behind the cafeteria. This class was an elective, something about making boats. Sora didn't care; he was 16 and had to make up two years of school. Riku did too, so Sora wasn't that alone.

Lo and behold, the room was in a bungalow behind the cafeteria! Sora moseyed in, trying to sit down when the teacher had her back to the class, since the door was in the back of the class. It didn't work, though. She spun around and grinned. Her hair was a messy bunch of light curls. She had dark green eyes, and her skin was tan.

"Well, well, well!" She said in a sing-song tone. "The new student," the teacher walked to the front student desk and removed the pile of papers from it, and set them on her desk. She continued, "I'm Jen. Don't you dare call me 'Ms. Doyle.'" Jen paused. Her face scrunched into a panicked look, "Unless the boss is here. Got it?"

"Yeah," Sora was shocked. A teacher wanted to be called 'Jen'. And she wasn't too bad looking… This will be a good first period. He smiled awkwardly, and sat where Jen was pointing at (the front desk she had just cleared). Jen then placed one of the packets of paper to him.

"It's only the third week of school, so you aren't too behind. Wanna tell us about you?"

Sora paused. How do you break it to your classmates about the darkness and light, and that just two years ago this whole place vanished? No, no, no… You don't tell someone that when you're giving a first impression. Sora knew better. He sighed, and nodded slowly as he set his bag down to walk to the front of the class.

"I grew up on the island," Sora started. Jen had a fan on a stool, hitting right where Jen was standing, where Sora stood now. He looked around the class. Tidus was in here with him. He felt a little more secure now. "Two years ago I went on a journey off the island. My friend came with me, too. We were curious about other places."

Tidus perked up, "You two disappeared after that huge storm!"

Sora analyzed the statement for a brief second. They remember the storm? _Gotta work off of that, then… _Sora decided.

"We wanted to protect our raft and supplies. They were just hanging off of the dock, and made of branches from the north side of the island." Sora laughed nervously. "We, er, kinda got swept off of our feet."

"But—" Tidus was cut off.

"Enough!" Jen interjected. "I do have a class to run, boys. Sit down… What's your name again?"

"Sora," he said, happy to be sitting again. He pulled out a notebook and a pencil, so he could jot down notes as the teacher, Jen, talked about boats. Soon, though, Sora found himself doodling over the page. He doodled Heartless, the Queen of Hearts, and then out of nowhere, he drew Terk and Tantor.

The morning went uneventful. Lunch was freedom. He apologized to Kairi for how he treated her, she didn't care. They ate lunch together behind the English wing. It was secluded. Peaceful, nothing to worry about…

"Do you ever consider dating someone?"

Sora was agape. Did Kairi just say that? He looked at her, and she was looking at him innocently. She seemed red in the face almost, but Sora couldn't be sure. It was late summer, and noon. Heat could be getting to her… _Yeah, that's it…_ Sora told himself.

"Dating? Why?"

"Why else?" Kairi asked. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her bangs were being pulled back with a white hair pin with a small blue flower on it. Sora looked away, in horror of what his mind and heart were screaming. She was interested with him? Were they really feeling the same feelings?

"Uh," he fought himself not to stutter, "why?"

"Really? _Really, Sora?_" Kairi giggled. It was a magical sound to Sora. He couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

"Yeah," he smiled, "really."

Sora watched and waited eagerly for Kairi to say it. She was definitely red, but blushing wasn't easy to determine. She was moving her head from side to side, like weighing the options with her hands. But her hands were busy holding her sandwich.

"A friend of mine is interested," Kairi simply stated. She smiled at him in a curious look. Sora's world suddenly stopped, crashed… Collapsed. Whatever you wanted to call it, that's how it felt to Sora.

What could he say to something like that? 'Yay!'? That wasn't something you said in a situation like this. Before any other suggestion came to him, his mouth said it.

"Oh."


	2. Are You Asking Me Out?

A/N: So I have learned my story looks best in 1/2 view. Riku's coming in next chapter! I think it'll be fun, he's very laid back now. But who knows, that could be his way of protecting the horrors he went through in the last few years... Have suggestions? Just put them in the review! And tell me what you think! If you find an error, you get a cookie! R&R please!

* * *

After school, Kairi left for home before she found Sora or Riku. Selphie didn't even know where she was going. Kairi wanted to scream; she lied to Sora. How could she? He saved her countless times, and she can't even say she loves him. But what if he doesn't love her back? Sora _did _have a crush on Selphie when they were little. It could have grown after two years of not being here…

Kairi bit her bottom lip in anxiety, and began to run. She held her school bag in her right hand, not really caring if that even fell into the ocean at this point. She wanted to cry so badly. It hurt not knowing whether or not he cared. It hurt more to think he _didn't _care about her. So how would she handle it? Ignore it? Or tell Sora…

She stumbled into the north of the island, where the water stopped them. Kairi panted, sweaty and out of breath. She looked behind her, worried someone saw her run and thought the worst. Kairi then walked onto the beach. What now? She wanted to keep going. But to get to the smaller island, you needed to take the main boat. And it was expensive.

Kairi smiled at her next idea. She kicked off her shoes, soon followed by taking off her socks. Kairi raised her arms high, and leaned back. She stretched her back and arms, since her legs were eager for this. She looked at the ocean, and ran to the water. She only had to push through the water a few feet before she hit a drop off. She stood knee-deep in water. The small island was only a forty minute swim for her. Kairi bent her knees, triangulated her arms, and dove in.

The water was cool, almost shocking, to Kairi's upper body. It felt great for her legs, but they had been moving for about for about fifteen minutes, they were warm. Her upper body was hot; it was shocking to be in cool water. After a few minutes of swimming, it was soothing. Kairi focused on the rhythm her arms made, and her mind was clearing by the second. Within minutes she was focused on swimming and nothing else.

An hour later, she was lying on the beach, out of breath and happy. All her anxiety was gone. Her hair was getting full of sand, and she didn't care. But in a bit she'd have to swim back. Unless she found a stray boat, but that was highly unlikely. Kairi sat up and looked at the trees. She wanted to go to their secret place. But it'd bring up bad memories. But she and Sora should go back one day soon.

But when?

Kairi stood up and stretched again. The sun was getting lower in the sky, about another hour until sunset. She had homework to do, as well. She had no parents to check in with, because she just magically showed up when she was about five. Sora and Riku's parents babysat her a lot, but when she hit fourteen, Sora's parents surprised her with her own small house.

The whole island knew about Kairi. When she was little, all the kids teased her because she had no parents, no family whatsoever. Kairi didn't even have memories of what she liked when she woke up on the island. Those kids gave her hell. But now, Kairi was seen as a normal girl. The town didn't make her pay bills for her house, but Kairi did try when she could. She couldn't manage a job regularly, but she helped out at Sora's parents' bakery and café. And they paid her per hour, so it worked out.

Kairi jumped back into the water and swam. She wanted to start on a book she had to read for English, and some Biology homework. Both were easy; Kairi still had to make a dinner for herself as well. That was probably the easiest of all.

She managed to get back to the main island and snatched up her things, packing them away into her school bag. Kairi took out the book to read on the way home, and threw her bag over her shoulder. From this part of the island, her place wasn't too far from here.

The sun sunk behind the horizon as Kairi finished her dinner and biology homework. She took a bath and simply went to bed. This was her life, every night. Homework, shower or bath, and then sleep. She hardly ever dreamed, but when she did, it was like a faded memory. Where she thinks it was one thing, but not sure of herself.

The next day in homeroom, she sat next to Sora, and watched him freak out because he didn't read the chapter their teacher requested them to read. Homeroom at their school was more of a "You-get-another-shot-at-schoolwork."

"So why didn't you do it last night?" Kairi asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"Tidus," he groaned.

"…" Kairi stared at him dumbfounded. "You've spent the last two years sword fighting, and your new hobby _is _sword fighting?"

"Yep," Sora laughed. "Actually, he was helping me with a boat design. It was homework for my elective."

"Oh," Kairi looked at the homeroom teacher, who was listening to a recording of a local band.

"Have you seen Riku lately?" Sora asked, looking up at her. Her blue eyes looked lighter with her skin being a bit darker than usual. She looked sunburned, but the color in her face looked good on her.

"He's been hanging with some girl lately," Kairi said simply. "He seems to _love _women."

"Well he deserves to be happy." Sora shrugged, closing the book. He rested his head on his right hand, looking at Kairi. "So…"

"Hmm?" She looked over at him, curious.

"Who's this friend of yours?"

"Ah…" She felt her face burn in embarrassment. Kairi looked away. "S-Selphie."

"I can't help but think you're lying," Sora blinked. "How about this, we hang out this weekend. There's a restaurant on the east side that is new to me. Let's go there for dinner Friday night."

"Sora," Kairi sat up, shocked, "are you asking me _out_?"

"We're best friends!" Sora shook his head in embarrassment. He paused for a minute. "Yeah, actually I am."

"I'll tell you who it is that's interested in you Friday night then." Kairi said, still red.

"Looking forward to it," Sora smiled his awkward smile.


End file.
